Inhalation, i.e., the therapeutic inhalation of aerosol, turned out to be an effective and gentle method for the treatment of various respiratory diseases such as for example acute respiratory disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and in particular bronchial asthma. Moisturizing the mucous membranes with an aerosol of fine droplets causes dissolving of the mucus in the airways and thereby facilitates the coughing up secretion. Additionally inhaled pharmaceuticals can be applied systematically into the bronchi or the lung where they are effective for the treatment of a topical or systemic disease. Conventionally a nozzle nebulizer is used to provide the aerosol, the nebulizer atomising the active pharmaceutical ingredient using a compressor and a nebulizing nozzle. The penetration depth of the atomized droplets into the lung depends, i.e., on the size of the droplets. Moreover, the specific effect of the droplets can be controlled in that nebulization is only performed during the inhalation process for a certain period of time.
Thus, inhalation devices where the nebulization process can be controlled, depending on the inhalation or exhalation phase, have been reported. German Patent No. 199 39 417 A1, e.g., describes an inhalation device with a control means in which a pneumatic valve is controllable depending on an inhalation phase, an exhalation phase and a rest period. These phases can be determined by a pressure sensor. A further automated inhalation device is described in EP 1 700 614 A1. This document describes a control means which controls an air pump via voltage and/or pulse width modulation to supply an inhalation flow and/or an inhalation volume according to a predetermined chronological sequence to a nebulizer connected to the air pump.
Generally it is desirable that inhalation devices are as small as possible since chronically ill patients, in particular, often carry these devices around. The size and weight of such devices are often predetermined by the compressor. On the one hand, the compressor must generate a sufficiently high enough pressure in order to operate the nebulizing nozzle and on the other hand must provide a sufficiently high air flow to meet the breathing volume per minute of the patient. High pressure and high flows at the same time, however, require a high-performance compressor, which may be accordingly voluminous and heavy.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved device for providing an aerosol flow and/or an air flow. This object is achieved with the features of the claims.